Cloud Basher,
That was very good. I very much enjoyed your
précis. You seem to have a very firm grip on reality and you will be rewarded well in your next job I am very sure!
I left the RAAF after more than 18 years service. And that delayed leaving was only because they kept giving me such great jobs! When I did leave people were saying I was a dick for leaving before 20 years and the reward of a lifetime pension. As it turned out, I was then able to then earn just the "barely adequate" amount of money in less than the next 20 years. So much so, that I am now financially independent! And this was after me leaving the RAAF as a pauper with a large mortgage in my late thirties.
My advice to all military aviation souls is to suck up the training, the fun and the experience and then go on out into the world to make some serious money with your talents before it is too late.
I have quite a few absolutely brilliant friends that went to the bitter end and retired as one and two star generals, and I feel very sad for their situations in their retirements.